A GANG of thieves assaulted and bit a man after he discovered them trying to clone his bank card.

Aiden Stocker, 31, of Attwood Close, Kings Furlong, Basingstoke, was attacked after discovering, and trying to remove, a card cloning device attached to a cash machine at Safeway,in Worting Road, Basingstoke. The assault occurred at 7.20pm on January 15.

Mr Stocker said: "I went to get some money from the cash machine, but something didn't look right. A youth came alongside me and asked what the problem was. The credit card scanner came off in my hands and I argued with the youth for a few minutes and that's when the other men came from behind me.

"They tried to punch me several times and bit my hand twice. They were of Mediterranean appearance, aged between 20 and 25."

Credit card fraudsters have targeted Basingstoke town centre on several occasions, most notably in July 2003, when thieves stole an estimated £30,000 from HSBC cashpoint users in London Road by blocking up other cashpoints to steer victims towards the machine fitted with a cloning device.

A NatWest cash machine, at the Chineham Shopping Centre, was also targeted in November 2003 by thieves using a Lebanese loop to retain customers' credit cards.

Mr Stocker added: "I think the police could help by distributing photos of the scanning devices so you know what lengths people will go to to take your money.

"I dread to think about the amount of people who used the cash machine without knowing about the cloning device, especially when they closed down two other cash machines at Safeway, by possibly jamming one and putting an 'out of service' sign on another, to restrict customers to the cloning one.

"I think it was unlucky for them it was me who found it because I'm relatively young, but if it had been an elderly man I think it could have been much worse. It wasn't until later I realised how lucky I'd been, because they could have been carrying weapons.

"There were about 30 people who saw me being attacked because it was a busy evening, but it wasn't until I shouted for help that two men came to help me."

Detective Constable Tim Ireson, from Basingstoke CID, said: "It's unclear whether those responsible have done this before because the method used is not particularly unique. No doubt there are various gangs who use this method but there have not been very many similar offences in Basingstoke."

Anyone with any information about the attack on Mr Stocker, or credit card fraud, can contact Det Con Tim Ireson on 0845 045 45 45.